Moral Crusaders

Consider the two statements below :

Be wary of those who try to lecture you on proper behaviour.

Guilt is always a tool used by authoritarians to control and manipulate.

The context ?


Social Control.


In Australia at the moment we have a group of fundamentalist Christians attempting to hijack the legal system by a concerted attack on advertising and what they see as the "sexploitation" of females. In their self righteous , self imposed order of thinking , these people are determined to force a change of social attitude through the political agenda to effect a cultural shift in the ways advertisers do business.


http://community.collectiveshout.org/profile/NicoleJameson


So what can be so wrong about this ? Surely advertisers have overstepped their mark on a number of occasions . Look at the way they promoted cigarettes and the cultural embedding of that practice in the modern world, especially after WW1.


 http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1848212,00.html


Look at how the cultural shift has changed on this practice in developed countries.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1905530,00.html


So what can be so wrong in attempting to effect a cultural shift in attitudes towards a social practice in the form of advertising  targeting and using the theme of sex ?


Well, where do you draw the line ?


What makes something sexual  ?


Isn't it in the eyes of the beholder ?


ALSO.....

Isn't the aim of these social crusaders to enforce an agenda that channels perceptions through the filter of their fundamentalist religious philosophy ?


Have a look at the following :


http://www.endeavourforum.org.au/


http://www.saltshakers.org.au/


Now I have no problem with them expressing their opinions, concerns and brand of life-styles......




But when you try and convert others through the brute force of the law, then I suspect exclusionary tactics will underpin social values and a monocultural dominance will resurface in Australia; the concepts of right and wrong behaviour in the form of attitudes and beliefs will prevail leaving many minority groups grappling with a sense of confusion about what kind of justice system deprives a person of their right to practice their own lifestyle............it's like regressing to the times of intolerance we witnessed in the legal system in the 50's and the 60's in Australia.